The “Meeting of HoReCa Owners of Serbia” was organised in the Centre Sava yesterday, attended by representatives of the HoReCa sector from Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, and other cities across Serbia, who discussed ongoing issues, particularly those which might result from the introduction of smoking ban, as recently announced by the Ministry of Health.

At the meeting, the Association of HoReCa Owners of Belgrade and the Association of HoReCa Owners of Serbia announced that they decided to join a campaign of the Ministry of Trade and Services in relation to the implementation of the ban of alcohol and tobacco sale to minors.

Representatives of the associations underlined that they advocated the introduction of order and efficient and feasible regulations, which would help in resolving these significant social issues.

The total ban of smoking, proposed by the Ministry of Health, would not, however, bring order to the HoReCa sector. On the contrary, it would cause irreparable damage to the HoReCa and service sectors, employment and turnover in the sector, which would definitely lead to further deepening of the crisis in the local economy, with no significant influence on smoking reduction and, consequently, on the protection of public health.

As representatives of one of the most important business sectors in the country, the HoReCa owners once again appealed to responsible authorities to undertake measures necessary for preventing a negative impact which would be devastating for business operations of more than 9,000 HoReCa facilities.

The HoReCa sector representatives are of an opinion that smoking in HoReCa facilities should be regulated through a compromise, following successful EU examples. “On April 16, the People’s Initiative “Smoking instead of Ban” submitted to the National Parliament a draft law on smoking ban in closed working and public areas.

We believe that this draft law is in the interest of the protection of public health in a compromising and applicable manner. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Health has not taken our suggestions and arguments into account,” said Nikola Dimitrijević, President of the Association of HoReCa Owners of Serbia and a member of the “Protection instead of Ban” Initiative Board.

Initiative of the HoReCa sector supported by the Association of Taxi Drivers “Maxis Taxi” and the Association of Tax Payers of Serbia:

“Our clients are mainly guests of cafes, restaurants, bars, and any drop of turnover in the HoReCa sector is seriously reflected on our turnover as well. Due to the economic crisis, the HoReCa sector has suffered losses of as much as 50% this year and we have been affected consequently. Therefore, we have decided not to increase prices of our services, although we had a right to do it… The Maxis Taxi Association wishes to officially support the draft law regulating smoking at public places in a compromising fashion. A compromise solution can function well, and it has proved to be the most efficient solution in our profession. We have both smoking and non-smoking vehicles, and offer to our clients an option of choosing a type of vehicle they want to use,” said Nebojša Marijanović, President of the Maxis Taxi Association.

“By the adoption of your proposal, conditions for introducing a law enabling people to earn income and pay taxes in these difficult financial circumstances would be established… All political factors in this country must not forget that you are the ones who pay taxes and add up to the budget, which many have benefits from,” as stated in a statement submitted by Milan Lajhner, Secretary General of the Association of Tax Payers of Serbia.

The People’s Initiative “Protection instead of Ban” was launched this April and gathered associations of bartenders from Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, HoReCa owners across Serbia, as well as renowned individuals who understand this issue and its consequences, and agree with a method of its successful resolution.

In the first seven days, the Initiative collected more than 80,000 signatures of citizens, who supported a compromise legal solution and a related draft law was submitted to the Serbian Parliament on April 16.

The Initiative has been supported by the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Sommeliers of Serbia, the Association of HoReCa Owners of Novi Sad, the Association of Bartenders of Novi Sad, the Writers’ Association of Serbia, the Maxis Taxi Association and the Association of Tax Payers of Serbia.

For more information on the Initiative, the draft law and a list of locations where signatures were collected, please visit www.zastitaumestozabrane.com.